[Case study]

LITTLEWINE

Native mobile app, winemaker portal and admin dashboard

LITTLEWINE went from idea to a live app for the wine trade, then moved from FlutterFlow and Bubble onto one custom platform it owns.

[Stack]

Flutter, React, Firebase, Algolia, Stripe, Claude Code, Notion

[Duration]

4 months to first version; ongoing since January 2024

LITTLEWINE search, exploring winemakers, wines, collections and spaces

LITTLEWINE home screen with featured stories and spaces

[What it is]

Where winemakers meet the wine trade

LITTLEWINE is a native mobile app and web platform that connects independent winemakers with the wine trade. Winemakers publish their wines, vineyards and story; buyers, sommeliers and importers discover them, take tasting notes and build collections.

What started as a single mobile app is now the whole business: LITTLEWINE runs entirely on its own platform, and the Bubble back office it launched on has been retired.

The problem

LITTLEWINE needed both sides of its platform to work together. The app for wine professionals was still an idea, and the winemaker portal already existed in an early version, built separately on Bubble. The app had to connect to what winemakers were sharing and get in front of users quickly, so LITTLEWINE could learn from them.

Later the job grew: take over the portal, which we hadn’t built, and move its backend and data off Bubble without ever putting the business on hold.

[How it works]

From no-code to one custom platform

We built the first version of the mobile app in three phases over four months. We started in FlutterFlow because at the time it was the fastest way to get a real product into users’ hands. Once AI-accelerated development made a fully custom build quicker than working around a builder’s limits, we migrated the app to a custom codebase and kept shipping: the winemaker web portal, an internal admin dashboard, paid subscriptions and, finally, a full migration off Bubble onto a single platform LITTLEWINE owns end to end.

Both tools were the right call for their moment. No-code got LITTLEWINE to market far sooner than a custom build could have at the time, and we moved off each one when custom development became the faster option, not as a matter of principle.

The mobile app, for the wine trade

Sign up and log in
Search and discover winemakers, wines and vineyards
Write notes on wines to track personal observations
Build and manage collections of wines and winemakers
Share wine and winemaker profiles
Individual and team subscription plans, billed in the app or by card

The winemaker portal, replacing Bubble

Winemakers used to manage everything in a Bubble app that LITTLEWINE couldn’t extend or fully control. We replaced it with a purpose-built portal on the same platform as the app.

Winemakers manage their profile, wines and vineyards themselves, with a draft and publish workflow
Several people from the same winery can share one account, with roles and permissions
A completeness checklist guides each winery to a publishable profile before it goes live
Everything published flows straight into the mobile app, with no manual re-entry and no sync jobs

The admin dashboard

An internal tool for the LITTLEWINE team to review new wineries, approve profiles for the app, manage reference data and step in when something needs fixing, replacing what used to be spreadsheet and Bubble admin work.

Stack

The LITTLEWINE app is a Flutter app on a Firebase backend, first built in FlutterFlow and now a custom codebase. The winemaker portal and the admin dashboard are React web apps on the same Firebase data. Algolia powers search, and subscriptions run through the app stores and Stripe. We scope each release with LITTLEWINE in Notion and build with Claude Code as part of our AI-accelerated workflow.

Timeline

Our work with LITTLEWINE began in January 2024, and the first version of the mobile app took three phases over four months. We have kept shipping since, release by release: the move to a custom codebase, the winemaker portal, the admin dashboard, paid subscriptions and, last, the migration off Bubble. In LITTLEWINE’s words, we deliver on time “in 99% of cases”, and when there is a delay, we say so early.

Outcome

No-code to fully custom, at the right time. LITTLEWINE started in FlutterFlow when that was the fastest route to market and moved to a custom codebase once AI-accelerated development made custom faster still, with no interruption for users and no visible change to the product.
Bubble fully retired. Every winery account, wine, vineyard and image moved across, and existing users kept their logins.
One platform. The app, portal and admin dashboard all run on the same data, so there are no integrations to keep in sync.
Revenue built in. Subscriptions for individuals and per-seat plans for teams, handled through the app stores and Stripe.

The app is live on the App Store and Google Play, and LITTLEWINE reports that user feedback has been really positive.

[Don’t just take our word for it]

A partner, not a contractor

“They think like a partner, not a contractor. They don’t just build what we ask for. They tell us when there’s a better way and when it’s time to change course, like the move to a custom build.

If you’re early and still figuring things out, DreamLabs will help you find the fastest way to get started and tell you honestly when it’s time to grow out of it. That’s exactly what they did for us.”